A couple of Charlotte's favorite things: playing outside and singing! She loves to be outside, and I mean she loves it. I remember when we first brought her home, every time we were outside and the wind would blow, she would get this huge grin on her face and just breathe it all in. I don't think she spent much time if any outside of the orphanage, so the fresh air was just so invigorating to her. She also did not let her bare feet touch the grass for quite a while, she has overcome that now and this little girl loves to play. Now that it is spring, we are spending lots of time outside in the afternoons. Here she is playing soccer the other day, and getting super excited when she told me she SCORED!!
Then singing, she absolutely loves to, poor thing...I am holding out hope that one day she will match pitch. (And she will if her music teacher momma has anything to say about it!) But for now she sings LOUD and PROUD. When she goes to church early with daddy, she always wants to practice with the praise team. She always says, "I sing LOUD!!" Make a joyful noise, right!?!
Life has been so up and down for me lately. It seems that any little thing that is at all a conflict or stressful in the least sends me over the edge. (Can it still be pregnancy hormones? Yeah, didn't think so!) So I am trying to refocus, and get stuff back into perspective you know. So I am going to get back to my Thankful Thursday posts and help me concentrate on all that is good and all the blessings we have in our life.
1. The sweet relationships our children have with each other. Of course, they get on each other's nerves some times but they so often show love towards each other and that makes my heart happy :)
2. I don't have to work full-time, just part-time and that gives me 50% of my week at home, which I would not trade for anything!
3. I love the spring weather and playing outside with the girls so much fun!
4. We have beautiful house and I am looking forward to continuing to make it OUR home. Even though we have been her just about 7 months, it is still not our home, yet. I hope this spring and summer to make it OURS.
Please keep praying for Lucy. As of friday a family still has not stepped up yet. You can read the blog post about her here. I wish we could be her family, but I know she needs a mommy that can spend a significant amount of time with her in the hospital and that's not us right now. I have prayed about it, and don't feel God leading us to bring her home but I do feel called to advocate and pray for her. I love that you can see her sweet personality through her pictures. And no matter what turns her life takes, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is using her, using her life for good. I also know that there is a very real possibility that the lack of surgical intervention so far, may have severely affected her chances. She may also not be a good cantidate for a transplant as her lungs may not be able to take the pressure of it all. So I will continue to pray for this sweet girl who has forever taken a little piece of my heart. I hope you will too!!!
Will you pray for Lucy? She is an orphan in China waiting for a forever family and has a very serious heart condition. She needs surgery and will most likely need a transplant in the future. Please pray that either a family steps forward soon or that she can come to the US on a medical visa to get the care she needs. Here is a link to this sweetie!!
The adoption community has rallied around this sweet girl, please go here to see about the 24 hours of prayer movement starting on Thursday!
(The following post is from Amy's Blog)
Lucy needs a miracle.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
–Psalms 139:13-14
I cannot stand by and do nothing for this child. Like so many others, though, we are not in a position to adopt again right now. But I can pray for her. I can pray for a family to step forward.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we as a community could come together and cover Lucy with prayer for 24 hours? Wouldn’t it be amazing to see what God can do through this child?
Honestly, I don’t know how God will answer our prayers. I don’t know how Lucy’s life will end up. But what I do know is God will not turn his back on Lucy. She is not alone. While we may not understand it, her life has a purpose.
Will you join me on your knees in prayer for Lucy? Will you pray:
That a family will step forward and claim her as their daughter? Will you pray that once the family submits their letter of intent that China and the United States will expedite all their paperwork and they can hold Lucy in record time?
Will you pray for peace for this extraordinary family? Will you pray that even though Lucy has significant medical challenges ahead of her that they will find strength and support they never imagined.
Will you pray for Lucy? Pray she remains strong. Pray she can hold on for just a little while longer until her mommy and daddy find her.
The 24 hour prayer chain for Lucy will be on Thursday, March 18 starting at 6:00 am and will end on Friday at 6:00 am. If you can commit just one hour of your time, please list it in the comment section of the Amy's blog (http://1001tears.blogspot.com/). Please list the hour you’ll be praying and where you’re from. I hope people all around the world will pray for Lucy.
I think God has amazing things in store for this child. Please be a part of it.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.--John 14:18
Please help to get the word out by reposting this on your blog, yahoo groups, and facebook pages. Please have people link back to Amy's blog (www.1001tears.blogspot.com) to comment, so we can see just how many people love and care for Lucy.
Our sweet Ainsley turned 6 months old yesterday!!! It does not seem possible, the time has just completely flown by. She is already holding toys, eating cereal, babbling, almost sitting on her own, rolling over, trying to crawl and she loves to laugh!! She is such a sweet girl.
And big sister Charlotte is loving the warm weather!!! She is riding her tricycle so well, and just loves to play outside. We are going through one of those trying phases though as well. Having to remind her lots that what Mommy and Daddy says goes, even if you don't like it:) It is so hard to be 3 and a 1/2.
One of my new favorite shots!! Get out and enjoy the weather everyone....spring is coming!
Charlotte was not in a picture taking mood, so this is the only shot with her :( We had a fun Valentine's Day-we all wore red to church this morning and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get a few shots of the kiddos!
Ethan is a very good big brother!! Always helping and taking care of his sisters, they are lucky to have him. We are too!
Our littlest valentine-but she sure is cute!
Nana gave Ainsley the BIG Teddy Bear for her 1st Valentine's Day and she is having so much fun loving on him. Too Cute!!
I am going to try to participate in Sunday Snapshot each week to help blog on a more regular basis!! Click on the link at the bottom to see other Sunday Snapshots.
This week is about my sweet love-Ainsley!! And she is just that, she is so cuddly and loving. She loves to smile and coo and give kisses. She especially likes it when you smile back at her. She loves her brother and sister so much and loves for them to interact with her. She really is a love, and I feel so blessed to be able to experience having an infant in the house again. It really is something I had given up on, but now I cherish every special little moment we have together. Our sweet Ainsley!
A fellow adoptive mom is doing a month long series on her blog called Project Chosen. Each day she is featuring another story of adoption prayerfully hoping someone who reads will feel the tug to take the leap of faith known as adoption. Today, Thursday Feb. 4th our story is being featured. Click on over to read a little more of our story.
Or if you are visiting us from Project Chosen welcome!! To read more about our trip to China you can visit our travel site here. Or have fun checking in on us, please leave me a comment so we can get to know each other a little more!!
It has been 5 years since we had some real snow around here, not just flurries or a dusting. Ethan hardly even remembers playing in it since he was 5 the last time we had some and it was while we were moving-yuck!! This was Charlotte's first ever snow. She was not too sure about it at first, but warmed up to it quickly. We had a lot of fun, and the 9 inches we got will be here for at least the next couple of days. I love snow!! Here are some shots of the kids enjoying the snow, Ainsley is under the weather and was asleep so none of her. Hopefully, I can bundle her up for a photo shoot later today.
I am in a word weary right now.It is defined as exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor or freshness and I feel all of those things.I have been sick for over a week now and on antibiotics but still not feeling physically 100%.Also still struggling with being back at work, where I need to be financially, but where my heart is totally not .And having to work through some hard decisions with extended family, it just makes me want to scream, cry, throw my fists in the air, but to what end that does that bring.None, really.Sure for a few minutes I feel an emotional release but it is short lived and best and leaves me asking why life seems so unfair at times.It seems so trivial in light of all that is happening in the world.All the suffering and tragedy, so many wondering where the next bite of food will come from and sleeping in the street, scared for the next after shock.But I guess we all have our quakes of sorts to work though in our lives.
Two passages come to mind:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."Matthew11:28-30
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
But this too shall pass right?I need to concentrate on what I can do, what I can move on now and rely on the ONE who has brought me here, brought me this far, given me an amazing husband and 3 incredible children, loving friends and family, and talents to share with others.Frankly just thankful for a home, food, a bathroom and the basic needs I need to live, so many in the world don’t even have that today.Praying for the people of Haiti, for the families that were/are in the adoption process and now in limbo, praying for the newly orphaned children in that country.If anyone deserves to say they are weary it is most definitely not me, right?
Stole this idea from a bloggy friend (thanks Jeanette), but it is a great way to remember 12 months of blessings!! So here we go.....
January started the year out with a bang, I found out that I was pregnant. This brought so many mixed emotions: excitement, hope, fear, uncertainty. But we were hanging on to God's promises and knew we would be able to handle it whatever the outcome.
( yes, I took about a hundred tests, I just couldn't believe what they said)
In February our little guy was turning not so little and celebrated his 8th birthday! He reminds us everyday what a blessing he is. He is such a great brother, helper, encourager and just great kid. Even strangers come up to us and tell us how impressive our Ethan is and how blessed we must feel to have him!
March had mommy working through the blahs of pregnancy but realizing that it was for real this time. Ethan was gearing up for the upcoming soccer season and Charlotte was growing leaps and bounds in her speech and progress at school.
By April soccer was in full gear, Charlotte was really starting to come out of her shell, I was finally coming out of the 1st trimester blahs and Jay was as always keeping us all on track. This spring is when Charlotte starting to talk more to people at church and on the soccer field and just really seemed like most 2 year olds. We were realizing that she was catching up developmentally and emotionally. All the hard work was paying off, and she was becoming a little girl. Such progress in 17 short months. Charlotte learned to walk, talk, eat solid foods, give hugs and kisses, play with toys, play with children her own age, color and so much more simply amazing!
May was a month of celebrations: Mother's Day, Daddy's Birthday and our sweet cousin Hannah graduated from High School. We had so much fun celebrating each with family and friends. This is also the month we decided to put our house on the market. A growing family meant we needed more space. I know selling a house, buying a house and moving while 7 months pregnant seems crazy and it was, but we love our new house and so do the kids :) Charlotte also had her third surgery which included a nose revision, new ear tubes and removing her adnoids. She did an awesome job this time and let me console her in recovery. She drank some juice and that was our ticket out of the hospital. We did not have to stay overnight, which was an incredible blessing.
Charlotte loves her (Hammah) Hannah and we do too!!
Ahhh......finally June. One of my favorite months of the year. It means the beginning of summer vacation, our annual trip to the beach (Outer Banks, NC) and Charlotte's birthday! And this year was no different, it was a great month!
Even with all this joy came some heartbreaking sadness as we lost my Uncle Bill. We all miss him so very much and think of him all the time. We love you Uncle Bill and we can't wait to see you again soon!
Not too much to report in July as I was really starting to feel extremely pregnant and HOT!!! We spend lots of time at home hanging out in the cool AC or the pool. Charlotte started swim lessons and loved them so much that she took all three sessions. She was a water bug. Not scared to go under the water or jump in. By the end she was starting to use her front crawl stroke, it was amazing. She loves the water, I see a future swim team member in our future.
August was a CRAZY month to say the least. We sold our old house and closed on our new house. Moved all our stuff, completely unpacked and started back to school (just one week for me.) August is some what of a blur except for the hours upon hours I spent in the Doctor's office. Since my pregnancy was high risk, I had to go in twice a week for non-stress tests on the baby. So I would sit hooked up to the baby monitor for at least an hour while they monitored the little ones movement. I was happy to know that all was well, but had so much to do it was hard to just lay there. But we got through it and the BIG day was quickly approaching! Jay and I also celebrated our 11th anniversary, so much has happened in just 11 years.
September brings one word AINSLEY!! Just 2 days after the first day of school we welcomed our little angel into the world. Everyone was instantly in love with this precious gift. She is a true jewel, always happy and smiling. She just lights up our lives and we are so thankful for her.
And on to October, the month Ethan earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. After almost 2 years of hard work Ethan earned his Black Belt. He does an awesome job in TKD, as in most things he tries. We are so proud of our guy!
November 5th we celebrated 2 years with our Charlotte. Can't believe how quickly time has flown by. This was the first year she really understood what Gotcha Day meant (a little). She knows that she came home from China on an airplane. Little by little she begins to understand, we talk about adoption a lot in our house so there are no secrets there. She was super excited to bring her ladybug cupcakes to school and celebrate with her class.
And finally December!!! We made through another year. A year of so many blessings and good times and some sad times. But through it all God was at work, shaping our family and our lives. We look forward to 2010 with much anticipation to see all that He will do.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21
